Marc Benioff, WSJ, and A Fine Line

I Think this is my first time venturing into a topic that involves public relations, journalism, and technology. I’m a big fan of Marc Benioff and what he’s done with SalesForce, and the on-demand industry. It’s a huge inspiration to what we have planned here at Publictivity. Nick Denton at ValleyWag broke the story of Marc Benioff and his interaction with Pui-Wing Tam. To get a really simple overview of the situation, go see what Tom Foremski has to say at Silicon Valley Watcher.

There’s a Fine Line

There’s a very fine line between a person’s privacy rights, and the freedom of the press. The Recent HP Board scare, which Pui Wing was involved with scared a lot of Silicon Valley High-Ups, and rightfully so. I can understand Marc’s need to privacy, but having her arrested may have gone too far. I don’t know everything about the situation. Emotions were probably running high.
Some Things Are Meant To Be Kept Personal

Marc supposedly flew to the WSJ offices to “browbeat” top officials there. Some things are just meant to be kept personal. The press has a duty, and every right to report on issues. If they didn’t, freedom of speech wouldn’t be where it is today. In this case though, mentioning the arrest and the details of it, would have created un-needed drama. It would have erupted a whole new situation, which is happening already due to Denton’s reporting. This situation would have been bad for all parties involved. It’s good to stay away from the Tabloid articles, that focus on nothing, but creating un-needed drama.

Just a simple post, since it is something that’s been running through my head. Feel free to correct me on many facts, as this seems quite intricate. More posts to come later in between work.
[tags] silicon valley watch, valleywag, nick denton, gawker, salesforce,WSJ, marc benioff, reporting, hawaii [/tags]